In a new article published in the Washington Spectator I note the importance of whistleblowers in the context of the controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline. The proposed pipeline would bring up to 830,000 barrels of tar sands crude oil a day from Canada to the Texas Gulf coast. James Hansen of NASA (winner of this year’s Ridenhour Prize for Courage) has said development of the tar sands would indicate that “either governments don’t understand the situation or that they just don’t give a damn.” The apparent conflicts of interest in the relationships among the State Department, contractors who drafted the environmental impact statement for the pipeline, the company that would build it, and the oil companies that would use it only intensifies public distrust. Where are the whistleblowers who will inform the public what is going on behind the scenes in these cozy arrangements?